Defining the role of social media in research: reflections on the QCRI2011 conference and working party!

by Di Tunney & Rachel Francis

As we move into an age where listening to customers is becoming more important than asking questions, and engaging in conversation is taking the place of market surveys, knowing how to speak the customer’s language is becoming more important than ever.

We were in Malta a couple of weeks ago enjoying the lovely islands hospitality, gorgeous weather and learning something along the way! We were at the Merlien Institute's Qualitative Consumer Research & Insights 2011 conference. Two days packed full of thought-provoking presentations and discussions. Thanks to Jasper and the Merlien institute for organizing a superb event.

Core to many of the presentations were how do we make the consumer the centre of the innovation process if 95% of consumer decisions are made subconsciously and rationalization often happens after the event. Experts shared their thoughts and experiences in using techniques including Priming, Narrative, Living Labs, Mental models and Discourse analysis. New technology is also been used to the full with presentations on creating Social Media communities, mobile platforms for research, utilizing web 2.0 into traditional qualitative research and Research robots (quite scary!).

We hosted a brainstorming workshop to debate some key questions into the role of Social Media within research – we’d like to continue that conversation on to establish some best practice guidelines. Comments and thoughts on the key issues we raised would be welcome:

• Anything posted on social media is fair game for research purposes
• You can’t get a representative sample on social media
• Some subjects shouldn’t be researched on Social Media
• Research bots will replace interviewers & analysts  in the next 25 years
• Listening is becoming more important than asking questions
• Social Media research is a major departure from Traditional research and will involve learning a new skill set

We would envisage that this discussion to evolve into a the establishment of the social media engagement working party (SME-WP) that will have responsibility for supporting and advising brands on how to enter into direct dialogue with customers in public spaces. As such, we are now receiving applications from interested parties who would like to be involved in the early stages of development on this new paradigm.

We are also pleased that Merlien Institute is supporting this initiative and will be supporting us through its global network of researchers and to spread to awareness of this programme. We envisage the working party to consist of a global and passionate team of client and agency side researchers. If you would like to be considered as a member of the working party, kindly send your CV to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Di Tunney has 25+ years experience in Market Research and Marketing, working in a diverse range of sectors. Di worked for Unilever, Allied Domecq and Thomas Cook before setting up a full service research agency in 1986. Aware that research needs a fresh approach, Di has become a specialist in language analysis techniques that explain what really drives customer behaviour. Di is a Master Practitioner of NLP and certified in Language & Behaviour Profiling. Di is intuitive and insightful with a keen focus on turning research into action. At Liveinsights, Di is a Consumer Insights and  Language Analysis Champion, and a Social Media Pioneer.

Rachel Francis has held a variety of roles in Market Research and Strategic Planning and has worked both client side at MARS, RHM and agency side for Marketing Consultancy OHAL. She is currently a director at Solva Consultancy and Liveinsights. Rachel is tenacious, analytical, creative and enjoys getting stuck into the data to seeing the bigger picture in a mountain of numbers to deliver quality business intelligence. At Liveinsights Rachel is a metrics and  dashboard champion, forging the way in understanding how to make sense of the wealth of information social media offers.